According to one of the victims of Sunday’s killings at the Dala Kabamti ward of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, contrary to the reports by some newspapers in the country and international media that bombs  were used to kill 25 people in Maiduguri,  the assailants used guns. And they succeeded in killing not fewer than 50 people at a regular local beer (Burkutu) joint.

It all started when some people suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect stormed the beer parlour around 6.30 p.m, set it ablaze and opened fire on the unsuspecting people who were relaxing at the joint.

But the picture painted generally in the media was that the joint was bombed, and since then there have been claims and counter claims on the attack. However, what is not controversial is that the attack claimed lives with the numbers of casuality still rising.

Corroborating the claim, the Security Task Force commander of the Operation Restore Order in Borno State, Major General Jack Okechukwu Nwaogbo, who said he was at the scene of the incident, revealed to the Nigerian Tribune that he went on an inspection to the affected site with his commanders and the deputy governor of Borno State to ascertain the extent of damage.

According to him, there was no bomb blast at the joint as reported in the media but some gunmen numbering about 10 came on motorcycles and started shooting sporadically at people at the drinking joint.
General Nwaogbo said that the situation was unfortunate as it claimed many lives, adding that, the Joint Task Force (JTF), which comprises of all the security agencies, would do everything possible to put a stop to killings in the state. He said that the JTF would ensure it  win the public to its side because it   would require information about the perpetrators from the public.

Meanwhile, reports had earlier revealed that bombs were thrown at the beer shops by two suspected Boko Haram members who were riding a motorcycle, and that they fled into the neighbouring wards of Bulunkuttu and Gomari of the metropolis before members of the Joint Military/Police Taskforce (JMPT) got to the scene. It was also reported that 30 minutes after the bombing of the beer parlour, according to an anonymous member of JMPT and a spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, Lawal Abdullahi, that they were caught unawares when they received a distress call from the Bulunkutu Divisional Police Officer (DPO) that the Dala beer shops had been bombed by the suspected Islamic sect members. He stressed that it was bomb blasts that killed and injured those at the Dala beer parlour.

Abdullahi said, “Today’s multiple blast  on the beer parlours at Dala, brings the death toll of people to 31, as four people were killed at a beer parlour two weeks ago, when they were shot and killed by suspected Boko Haram sect members at about 7.35pm.”

He also said all the bodies of the victims, along with the injured people, were taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) mortuary and also for the treatment of the wounds  sustained from the multiple blasts. According to him, the police anti-bomb squads had been drafted to the Dala beer shops, to ascertain whether or not suspected bombers had also planted other bombs at the beer market and Dala residential areas of Maiduguri metropolis.

General Okechukwu said that he was aware that security agencies were forcing people to come down from their vehicles for a stop and search procedure while passing through the numerous security check points, but stressed that no such directive was given to the security operatives.

“This is part of the challenges we are currently facing and that is why we have had to dismantle some check points. We learnt that some of the security men were extorting money from people and in fact, we have caught some of them in the act. We also have some of them who are currently facing the normal military punishment and we're mapping out strategies to check all these abnormalities within  our security  structure," he explained.

Now, in Borno State, bomb scares are fast becoming a norm. Earlier in the week, there was a bomb scare on Sunday morning when Christian worshipers in many churches in Maduguri, the Borno State capital, were subjected to a rigorous security scrutiny by bomb experts over fears of being in possession of explosives with the aim of bombing churches. Besides that, virtually all the vehicles belonging to the Sunday worshipers were diverted to another location away from the church premises with a view to averting any possible explosion. Attention was specifically shifted to most of the female worshippers, as their bags, Bibles and other personal effects were thoroughly searched by fierce looking security operatives.

At Saint Patrick Catholic Church, which was hit by explosives twice in five days by suspected members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Christian faithful were thoroughly screened by bomb experts in plane clothes. Confirming the unusual security checks to the Nigerian Tribune, a security operative who pleaded anonymity, said they were acting on the instruction to carry out a total check on every worshiper “as any one could disguise to inflict terror on innocent worshipers.”

According to the security personnel, “the stop and search became necessary following the recovery of some explosives in the bag of a female worshiper in one of the churches in town.”

According to him, “the lady had on the fateful day asked her mother and siblings not to go to church for no convincing reason, but luck ran out on her when the curious mother called the attention of some church officials along side security operatives, who quickly intercepted the lady and her co -evil plotters at the car park of the church.”

But the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Lawal Abdullahi, claimed ignorance of the arrest but said that “the arrest might  have been made by a Special Security Task force set up by the Federal Government and headed by Major General Nwaogbo of which I am in no capacity to speak for.”

However, while speaking with the Commander, Joint Task Force, Major General Jack Nwaogbo, said that, security operatives had on Sunday picked up two people, who pretended to be going to church to be converted but were discovered to have a different motive. According to him, they are now in their custody and  have been helping with information and helping security operatives to also arrest their sponsor.

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